Questions

1. Why should directors, executives, and accountants understand consequentialism, deontology, and virtue ethics?

2. Before the recent financial scandals and governance reforms, few corporate leaders were selected for their "virtues" other than their ability to make profits. Has this changed, and if so, why?

3. Is it wise for a decision maker to take into account more than profit when making decisions that have a significant social impact? Why?

4. If a framework for ethical decision making is to be employed, why is it essential to incorporate all four considerations of well-offness, fairness, individual rights and duties, and virtues expected?

5. Is the modified 5-question approach to ethical decision making superior to the modi¬fied versions of the moral standards or Pastin approach?

6. Under what circumstances would it be best to use each of the following frameworks: (1) the philosophical set of consequentialism, deontology, and virtue ethics; (2) the modified 5-question approach; (3) the modified moral standards approach; and (4) the modified Pastin approach?

7. How would you convince a CEO not to treat the environment as a cost-free commons?

8. How can a decision to downsize be made as ethically as possible by treating everyone equally?

9. From a virtue ethics perspective, why would it be logical to put in place a manufacturing process beyond legal requirements?

10. List the companies that have faced ethical tragedies due to the following failings in their ethical culture:
a. Lack of ethical leadership
b. Lack of clarity about important values
c. Lack of ethical awareness and expectations by employees
d. Lack of monitoring of ethicality of actions
e. Unethical reward systems
f. Unreasonable pressures for unrealistic performance

11. Give an example of behavior that might be unethical even though "everyone is doing it."